Northern Canada, including northern British Columbia, has more boys than girls, according to the just-released Conference Board of Canada's Boy Oh Boy map.
"In Canada, the real gender divide is the north-south boundary," said Derrick Hynes, director for Centre for the North, which published the map.
Both demographics and economic factors help explain why the North has more males than females, said Hynes.
More boys than girls are born around the world, including in Canada, where 105 boys are born for every 100 girls, according to Statistics Canada. Since northern Canada's population is younger compared to the rest of Canada, boys comprise a higher share of the North's population.
Males also make up more of the population where heavy industry is a key part of the economy. Examples include the oilsands in northern Alberta and oil and gas development in northern British Columbia.
Northern B.C. and Alberta contain four of the five census divisions with the highest percentage of males.
They include northern Alberta's Fort McMurray area with 53.6 per cent male, and the Fort Nelson area in northern B.C. at 53.2 per cent male.
Northern Alberta's Grande Cache area sits at 52.4 per cent male, while the Stikine area in northwest B.C. (the Atlin area) is at 52.3 per cent male.
In fact, all of north and central B.C. sits above the 50 per cent level for the male population. The central B.C. area, which includes Prince George, is above 50 per cent but below 51 per cent.
The Boy Oh Boy map is part of the Here, the North series published by the Centre for the North, which is a Conference Board of Canada program of research and dialogue.
